


Like Wildfire We Burn Relentlessly

by ambitiousbutrubbish



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Alternate Universe - Hogwarts, Hogwarts, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-25
Updated: 2018-01-25
Packaged: 2019-03-09 07:53:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 15,624
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13477026
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ambitiousbutrubbish/pseuds/ambitiousbutrubbish
Summary: Levi Ackerman: Reluctant Hufflepuff





	Like Wildfire We Burn Relentlessly

**Author's Note:**

> Me @ canon like “lalalalala good thing I stopped paying attention to that years ago lalala”. Have some obligatory Hogwarts!AU instead. It’s good for the soul.

Levi gets himself a detention on his first night at Hogwarts. 

He’s almost impressed with himself. He honestly hadn’t thought that Hufflepuff’s even _could_ get detention. If he had known; well. He probably still would’ve burned his uniform in protest against his sorting. But he would’ve thought about it for a few seconds more before actually going through with it.

Because he’d heard the rumours, the facts; whispered on the train by older students when some passed him by, on the boats, carried over the gentle sloshing of the waves made by oar strokes, in the waiting room next to the Great Hall. He’d heard the hat’s song. Hufflepuff was the house for “the rest”. The one where you got sent if none of the others wanted you. If you weren’t good enough. And he’d just been so _angry_ ; that even here he was nothing, that this was just another place where he didn’t belong.

And after the feast they’d led him and his housemates into the bowels of the castle, passed the kitchens - Levi can’t keep the sneer off his face when they’re told that it is “guarded” by a queasily cute giggling pear - through the doorway, and into the cushy commonroom. From there they’d been shown to their dorm room and left to their own devices for the night. Levi had changed into his pyjamas, laid his robes out on the bed and then set them on fire.

Unlike many of his magical experiments up to that point, it was almost entirely intentional. 

And while his housemates had run screaming for help, Levi had sat patiently on his bed. Waiting for them to kick him out.

\--------------------

Levi was orphaned at a young age.

For a time, he was raised by his mother’s brother. Kenny had found him alone with her corpse, in the tiny room they called an apartment; still holding her pale, limp hand between the two of his own small ones. His father had left the picture long before his mother breathed her last. 

It wasn’t a happy life they shared, but it was a stable one. Kenny taught him to look after himself; how to hustle money and information, where to look for food, how to be almost invisible in the streets of London. And Levi became used to returning to the small space they had carved out as their own on the streets. 

Until the day that his magic had first appeared. Levi had been a late bloomer - almost seven years old before he first accidentally produced sparks, trying to wriggle away from a businessman who had caught him pickpocketing.

He had returned to their space empty handed, but filled with relief. Kenny and his mother had thought Levi a squib, and Levi had accepted that, even as he resented it. He had resented magic, too, for not saving his mother; even as the promise of its power called to him, told him that if only he had had it, if only he had been stronger, _better_ , then he could have protected her. 

Kenny had not been impressed - either with the news or his early return - and Levi had been sent out again immediately, reprimands for abandoning his role in keeping the two of them clothed and fed ringing loud in his ears. He doesn’t realise until years later that Kenny hadn’t been angry. He’d been _sad_.

By the time Levi had made his way back to the hideout he called home late that afternoon, Kenny had been long gone; his sleeping bag and small, battered suitcase of belongings cleaned out with him. All that he had left had been their cooking setup. Levi hadn’t dared light it for warmth, aware of what would happen if someone saw it, and him; a small child, alone and abandoned and shivering in the night. 

He lasted a week before he was caught stealing again, a woman grabbing his wrist as he tried to lift her purse from her handbag. And instead of a previously-hidden talent manifesting to save him, Levi had ended up in the system.

His stay in the children’s home was rarely interrupted by attempts at fostering. Levi was not the kind of kid that families were eager to take home. He was intense, quiet and stubborn. Irritable and dismissive; he spoke like someone who had spent most of his short life being sworn at by people who thought they were better than him, and he had never learned another way to talk. He remembers that his mother loved him, that she was soft and kind, and he remembers that he loved her too. But he never remembered how she spoke to him. 

When someone looked passed all that and did decide to foster him, it never lasted long. Magic followed Levi around like a lost puppy, feeding off the slightest changes in his moods - like it was trying to make up for all the years it had stayed hidden. Levi would get angry or sad or even happy and things would start to happen without his conscious thought. Glasses exploded, curtains caught fire, keys would go missing, and Levi would be sent back to the group care home.

He heard them, every time, explaining why they bought him back. Levi was small, and people tended not to notice him. Some thought he was stealing. More said, in hushed voices, that they thought there was something _off_ about him; unsettling, even scary. That they just felt weird when he was around. 

Furlan was bought into the house around a month after Levi’s arrival, and Levi experienced something he had never had the opportunity or luxury of before: friendship. Furlan was a year younger, but just as intense as he was, just as standoffish. But focused, in a way that Levi had never managed; less angry, more accepting of his life.

And then, almost four months before Levi’s ninth birthday, there was Isabel; all of three years old and tottering after the two of them on chubby, toddler legs; sleepy curled up in a tiny, tight ball, a warm weight at Levi’s side.

Both were muggles, or at least were late coming to magic as Levi had been. He didn’t _trust_ them with his secret, so much as have his magic betray itself to them.

A month after her arrival in the care house, Isabel turned four - her first birthday since she lost her parents. Levi and Furlan had spent the day trying to keep her distracted, but when it was time too put her down for the night she asked for her mother, and quickly became hysterical when they told her she could not be there. Isabel had been inconsolable, and something in Levi’s frustration and pain had set off his magic; bubbles and sparks popping and whizzing in front of her wide, wet eyes, Isabel’s tiny hands reaching out for the colours and lights, her tears turned to laughter. 

After that, whenever Isabel began to cry, Levi would delight her with small conjurations. It was the only time his magic obeyed him completely. 

\--------------------

Levi serves his detention at the end of his first complete day, between his last class and dinner. He had expected to be the only student to have managed the feat, yet when he arrives, one other seat in the room is already occupied by a lanky, blond boy in Slytherin robes, scratching frantically on a piece of parchment. He doesn’t look up when Levi flops down next to him. 

Levi isn’t sure what to do - whether the other boy is here to supervise his detention or is serving one of his own, whether he’s expected to fill his own time or if a teacher will give out a specific punishment - and he’s about to lean over to either ask the other boy, or get a sneak peak at his writing for guidance, when the door swings open again and an older, bald man walks in and takes a seat at the desk in front of them. The Slytherin boy puts down his quill and looks up, face perfectly blank. Levi notices a large pair of bushy eyebrows that surely would have gotten him teased at the group care house, but there’s something in his steady gaze that tells Levi that that would be a bad idea.

The professor sighs. “Smith? Again? I had hoped third year would be the charm.” And Levi hears a note of amusement in his voice. 

The boy, Smith, barely changes his expression as he talks, but the corners of his lips turn up slightly. “I aim to be reliable, Professor Pixis.”

There is a sharp burst of laughter from the professor before he turns to Levi. “And you, Ackerman. First day. Impressive. I hope Smith hasn’t roped you in to his little band of protesters.” Levi shakes his head, confused.

“Why are you here?” The voice says next to him, and Levi turns to Smith in surprise, although he keeps his expression as neutral as possible. For a reason he can’t explain, he feels almost desperate to impress this stranger. 

“I lit my robes on fire in protest.”

Smith laughs, and Levi finally understands what his failed foster parents meant when they said he made them feel uncomfortable - the laugh sounds _wrong_ , like it shouldn’t be coming from Smith, like he read about laughter and is just now trying it out. Levi averts his gaze.

Smith must take it the wrong way, because his laughter is immediately cut off, and he sounds almost apologetic when he speaks. “I’m not laughing at you, I promise. That’s an brave bit of magic you did. You should be proud.” He pauses. “I’m Erwin, by the way.”

Levi glances back at Erwin, and he looks softer than he’s been since Levi first saw him. “Levi.” He replies.

“Well, Levi.” Erwin says. “What were you protesting?” 

Levi shrugs. “I didn’t want to be a Hufflepuff.” 

“Why not?” Erwin asks, and he sounds so genuinely confused that Levi, for the first time, questions his actions. “There’s nothing wrong with Hufflepuff. Hardworking. Loyal. Trustworthy. Kind. The hat must have seen something in you that belonged there.” 

And Levi _blushes_ , which is almost more embarrassing than he can deal with, and he mumbles “I thought you just got sent there if they wouldn’t want you anywhere else.”

Erwin frowns, and Levi is about to yell at him that it isn’t his fault that he was never taught anything about Hogwarts houses, when Erwin turns away and directs those furrowed eyebrows at Pixis.

“Do you see, professor? This is exactly what I’ve been talking about. Healthy competition and house unity should be encouraged, but not at the expenses we’re paying: negative stereotyping, alienation and exclusion, shame. Levi, and everyone like him, are why we need to protest house elitism.”

And Levi would like to laugh at Erwin, at his idealism, but there’s an almost manic light in his eyes that says he _means_ it. Means it enough to fight for it. And the way Pixis leans forward, just a little, interested in spite of himself in what Erwin has to say. 

Levi, however, has always tended to shy away from social movements - too much risk, too much exposure, too much easily dashed hope - and instead of listening, takes out a piece of parchment and quill to write a letter back to Furlan and Isabel.

Erwin mostly fades from his memory over time, but Levi never forgets being told for the first time that he has a place to _belong_.

\--------------------

Levi very rarely gets mail, but the owl that arrives for him on the third day of his fifth year at Hogwarts is as expected as the contents of it: Isabel’s eleventh birthday came and went with the only owl visit carrying best wishes from Levi. They had all known that Isabel wasn’t a witch, but some small part of Levi had hoped anyway. Stupid, _sentimental_ , all those things that Kenny had taught him would get him killed one day; first by telling him, then by abandoning him. And yet, Levi had still wanted her here with him. Wanted them both; Isabel, and Furlan too.

The truth is that Levi is no better at making friends now than he was at seven years old. He has acquaintances at Hogwarts, of course; he’s attended the school for five years, shares a dormitory with the same group of boys every night. But he never felt the need to be _friends_ with them. He had all the friends he needed in Furlan and Isabel. And now–

And now they know absolutely that neither will be joining him here, and Levi is forced to face the fact that he will spend his last two years here _alone_ , and the knowledge cuts him deeper than he ever would have expected.

Levi looks up from the letter, glaring at the food around him in anger at his own emotions, and he sees a green-trimmed robe and tie seated amongst the sea of yellow. It’s wearer is deep in conversation with another Hufflepuff man that Levi recognises as Mike, the seventh year who everyone just pretends isn’t weird, because he’s so much taller than everyone else. Even though he goes around _sniffing_ people. Levi had hexed him when Mike had tried it with him, but Mike’s defensive charm had been faster than Levi had been expecting and his spell had just been absorbed. Even so, Mike had never tried it again.

Levi stares at the Slytherin. Something about him is familiar; blond hair, focused, truly impressive eyebrows and suddenly Levi _remembers_. Detention, his first day. Erwin. That feeling that has carried him through five years of schooling; the truth that the hat saw something _Hufflepuff_ in him, that it didn’t just cast him aside. And even if he still doesn’t know what _it_ is, Levi has never given up on the hope that Erwin gave him, that one day he would figure it out. 

Erwin must feel his stare, because he turns is head away from his conversation to look, brow furrowed, down the Hufflepuff table. Levi doesn’t look away, and their gazes catch and hold. And there’s a spark of recognition in Erwin’s eyes as he nods, once, in acknowledgement, before turning back to Mike. 

And Levi makes a decision: he is going to get to know Erwin Smith.

\--------------------

Levi enjoys flying. “Exceptional”, the instructor had said as he took off during his first lesson. The Hufflepuff Quidditch captain had hounded him for weeks about joining the team, but Levi has never been big on team sports and he had turned her down every time. She never got discouraged by his refusal, but eventually the season rolled around and it was too late. She graduated at the end of the year, and when the new captain took over Levi only had to tell him to get out of his face once before he never approached him again. 

He has never been to a Quidditch match before, but he had heard about it, excited chatter up and down the corridors. He’d always just tuned it out. But the name “Erwin Smith”, said in awed tones next to him, demands his attention. 

Levi makes his way to the trophy room, where he quickly finds those for Quidditch. “Slytherin” is engraved on the past three, and right underneath it: Erwin Smith - Captain. 

Which is how Levi finds himself pressed up against other students on every side, at his very first Quidditch match. It’s Slytherin and Gryffindor, but there’s still enough Hufflepuffs in attendance that Levi can blend into the edges of the group and avoid being seen as the teams make their way onto the pitch. 

Erwin is wider and a good head taller than the Gryffindor captain as they move to shake hands, and right until the moment that he mounts up and kicks off, Levi had thought he would look almost comically oversized on a broomstick. But as he watches him drift almost lazily over to the goals, the way that he hulks over his broom looks intimidating, rather than silly; the effortless way he changes direction giving the impression that he belongs in the air, even has he hunches his shoulders over in a way that would make anyone else look small and nervous. Erwin looks like he’s bent over a war table.

The game starts, and Levi can see almost immediately why Slytherin have not lost a match since Erwin took over as captain. He hardly touches the quaffle. It barely ever even gets close. As keeper, Erwin can see the entire pitch, and his directs his team around with military precision. The structure of the Slytherin team is so tight, and reacts so quickly and trustingly to Erwin’s directives, that the Gryffindor players can’t get through. 

Levi has never seen Quidditch played like this before. Not that he’s ever watched much of it, but the players he’d seen zooming around on the front of newspapers had always seemed so disorganised. And the idea of having to rely on other people to succeed had never appealed to him. But watching Erwin lead his team to another straight victory is just something _else_.

Levi finds himself staring after Erwin long after the players have left the pitch.

\--------------------

Erwin ambushes him coming out of a charms class three days later. He has Mike with him, which is the only reason he doesn’t end up with a painful black eye, Mike snatching Levi’s wand away before he manages to get the spell out. Erwin almost ends up with a fist to the face for his troubles, anyway, but Levi severely underestimates their height difference and Erwin is able to lean cleanly out of the way. 

Erwin raises his arms, palms open in a peace gesture and Levi backs up. “I remember you.” Erwin says. “You had a detention on your very first day.” Levi nods, and can’t help but smirk a little. “And Mike says you went to your first Quidditch game ever and spent the entire time watching me.”

“Your friend is a pervert.” Levi grunts, and to his annoyance Mike laughs loudly in response.

Erwin doesn’t smile, but his eyes look a little brighter. “I mentioned you, after that detention. You intrigued me. Mike has been keeping an eye on you ever since.”

“So you’re both creepy. Whatever.”

Erwin _does_ smile at that, and Levi feels a slight prickle of unease. It is not the smile of a friend, but of a predator rapidly running out of patience. And sure enough, Erwin doesn’t waste any more time on smalltalk. “He also says that you’re a very powerful wizard. And quick with your fists, I must add.”

“Is there a point to this?” Levi drawls, determined to seem unrattled.

“Yes.” Erwin says, and Levi knows that his calm is not an act. “I run a duelling club across all houses, and I would like you to join.”

Levi scowls. He had spent the last few days planning how to approach Erwin, wondering what they would talk about. A recruitment drive had not factored into his thoughts. “Why would I want to join your band of nerds?”

Mike laughs again, and Levi is startled to discover that he is still there. Erwin maintains his blank face. “Because you’re quick. And you’re powerful. And we can help you become more of both. Besides, it wouldn’t hurt to inject some new competition into our ranks.”

“Sure.” Levi says, shrugs, and turns to walk down the corridor. He hopes that Erwin will follow after him, give him the upper hand, but he doesn’t. It’s not until halfway through his potions class that Levi realises he never asked where Erwin’s dueling club met. 

\--------------------

Mike sits down next to him at dinner the next day. Levi doesn’t look up, and Mike doesn’t say anything except to tell him to come with him after the meal. Levi grunts in acknowledgement.

The puddings disappear back down to the kitchens, and Mike doesn’t move. Levi is tempted to stand and start walking and Mike would have to leave too or lose him, but he gets the feeling he’s being tested. So they sit together in silence for five minutes before Mike stands and Levi gets up to follow after. He has to jog to keep up with him, which is only slightly less embarrassing than how he would trail after him otherwise. 

In the seventh floor corridor Mike stops abruptly and turns back the way he came. Levi pivots too, but the second time Mike stops, spins and retraces his footsteps, Levi pauses, wonders bemusedly how Mike can possibly be lost. And then he watches, still in awe over magic despite himself, as a door appears in the wall where there was nothing before. Mike enters, and Levi follows.

The room on the other side of the door is sparse and utilitarian. There are mats spread out on the floor, but no other furniture. The walls are plain and windowless - as to be expected of a room that appears to be, for all intents and purposes, inside a wall - bare except for posters that show crudely drawn witches and wizards going through the steps of performing spells. There are fifteen other students in the room, chatting in small groups,

Erwin breaks away from one to greet them. “Levi. I’m glad you’re here.”

“Where is here?” Levi asks, curiosity getting the better of him.

“This is the Room of Requirement.” Erwin says. “It’s been used as a secret meeting place for centuries. No one can find us here, unless they know that this is where we are. Hange will explain.” He beckons to someone with messy brown hair and glasses in a Ravenclaw robe. “They will assess where you’re at and answer any questions you might have.” And he turns and walks back to the group he came from, Mike falling into step beside him.

Levi watches him go, and doesn’t notice Hange’s approach until he can _smell_ them; the faint oder of sweat and stale breath and something almost musty. It’s a scent Levi was intimately familiar with, from when he lived on the streets with other people who didn’t have access to a means of cleaning themselves, and he recoils away immediately. Hange doesn’t seem too mind overly much, however; just keeps grinning at him from behind smudged glasses, their tie loose around their neck. 

“I have to say, Erwin doesn’t usually let anyone join until they’re at least third year.” They say. “You must be pretty special, kid.”

“I’m almost sixteen.” Levi says through gritted teeth

“Oops.” Hange says, brightly. “My bad. It’s just that you look like you’re about twelve years old.”

“Yeah? Well you smell like you have the personal hygiene of a twelve year old, so maybe Erwin put us together for a reason.” Levi drawls, and Hange barks out a laugh so loud that several people turn to stare. Levi glares at them, fed up with Erwin’s friends not taking him seriously. 

“You’re right that we weren’t paired up by chance, but happily it isn’t because Erwin thinks we’re children.” They say, still chuckling. “I’ve been here for longer than anyone other than Mike or Erwin himself. I’m always teamed up with the newbies, just to see where they’re at.”

“That must really help with stopping the group from getting too big for the room.”

Hange laughs again. “The size of the room actually changes depending on how many people need to use it.” The say. “It’s some pretty fascinating magic. But believe me, if new members can’t handle me, then they’ll never be able to deal with Erwin. He’s much less friendly than I am.”

“Not everyone likes friendly.” Levi mutters, and the smile falls from Hange’s face as their eyebrows furrow thoughtfully. They look like a completely different person without their manic grin. Almost respectable.

“...Watch out for yourself there, kid.” They say, kindly. “Erwin is– Well– Erwin is inspiring. We’d all follow him through the gates of hell. He knows that. And he’d lead us there without hesitating.” 

Hange’s statement sits in the silence between the two of them for a few moments and Levi feels his cheeks warm slightly at the implication there. Then the spell is broken by Erwin calling for everyone to partner up and stand opposite each other. Hange is grinning again as they incline their head to the end of the lines. 

Erwin has them run through a number of offensive and defensive spells while he walks around the room correcting everyone’s technique. When he finally makes it to the end of the line where Levi and Hange are taking turns shooting disarming spells at each other he pauses for longer than he has previously to watch. Levi forces himself to not get distracted, but it’s difficult when Erwin sidles up behind him and grabs his arm.

“You’re dropping your elbow.” He says, quietly enough that only Levi can hear him, and he can’t do anything but nod mutely in acknowledgment. Levi hopes it comes off as cool and aloof, and not like his words literally fled him at the contact. The way that Erwin’s lips twist up as he pulls away tells him he’s not entirely successful. Levi tears his gaze away back to Hange, and their face is troubled, although they cover it with a smile and a jelly-legs jinx before Levi can think too much about it.

After half an hour or so, Erwin calls a short break. Levi lowers his wand to shake out his arm, opening and closing his fist to stretch out his fingers, and when he looks up again he’s staring straight into Hange’s face, where they’ve put themselves deep inside his personal space. Levi forces himself not to take a hasty step back, to glare at them and hope they back down instead. They don’t budge, but their smile does dim a little.

“You’re very powerful.” They say, all in a rush. “I really had to focus to keep my shield up. I can see why Erwin recruited you.” Levi grunts in acknowledgement. 

The break is over quickly, and Levi finds himself facing Hange again, this time for a free sparring session. Their grin is looking more manic than he’s seen it yet, as their wand hand visibly vibrates in anticipation. Erwin lays out the rules - free reign for anything not majorly injurious or permanently disfiguring - and calls to start, and Levi almost botches his first protection charm right off the bat as Hange shoots off a jinx before he’s even entirely sure what is happening. He fires back a curse almost immediately, and an instinct to fight takes over as he follows it up with three more in quick succession. 

It is blatantly obvious after just a couple of minutes that while he may be much faster than Hange, they are cleverer than he is, blocking and weaving around his spells as if they can anticipate his every move. Erwin doesn’t wander around the room correcting technique, but paces against the wall out of range of the spells flying around the room and calls out critique. He has his wand out, maintaining a shield charm that absorbs the spells that occasionally make their way passed the combatants with apparent ease.

Given the time, Levi would be impressed. But instead he feels his frustration mounting as he fails over and over to get passed Hange’s defences. He forgets about technique, increases the speed of his casting, but it only seems to make it _easier_ for Hange, and their grin grows. Levi can sense Erwin coming to rest behind him, watching intently, and tries to forget anything but the magic. But it’s difficult when Erwin calls out his name.

“Levi. You’re dropping your elbow again.” He says, and Levi raises it on instinct.

And he manages to stun Hange only two spells later. He turns to see Erwin nod in his direction before moving on to the next pair.

When Hange comes to, they beckon Levi over. He keeps his grip tight on his wand in case it is a trick, but Hange makes no move to pick theirs up, nor themself off the ground. Levi refuses to join them there, and instead stares down at their face.

“You drop your elbow because it makes you faster.” Hange says, and Levi nods reluctantly. “But it also makes you lead with it. Your elbow moves first, and then the spell follows afterwards. It makes you easy to predict.” Hange holds their hand out and Levi would honestly like to ignore it, but he also wants to hear what they have to say. He takes it and helps pull Hange to their feet. Hange pats down the back of their robes while they talk. “You’re powerful. But your speed is your greatest asset. If we can just figure out a way to keep your elbow steady while–” Hange trails off, and without another word spins around and runs off to their book-bag and pulls out a quill and a roll of parchment, leaving Levi standing alone.

He’s not sure what the protocol is, here. Whether he’s supposed to find a new partner. He has a quick look around the room, and realises that only half of the pairs are still duelling. The rest have taken seats on the floor, or leaning up against a wall. A few are nursing various injuries; a couple of blood noses and black eyes, one broken finger. Levi spots Mike as one of the few still-standing non-duellers. His back is facing Levi, but he looks unruffled. There’s a Gryffindor, seated and leaning casually against his legs, but Levi can’t see who it is. He can, however, clearly see that Mike is talking to Erwin. 

Levi just makes the decision to go over there and join in the conversation when the door to the room swings open and the room falls silent, heads turning to see the intruder in Slytherin robes stride in. Levi recognises him vaguely as the Head Boy. “Alright.” He says, loudly. “Fun’s over. Everybody out.”

There’s some grumbling and moaning and dirty looks shot the Head Boy’s way, but everyone leaves with little fuss or fanfare. Hange tries to grab Levi’s arm as they walk past, but he shakes them off. Mike gives him an odd look as he leaves hand-in-hand with the unknown Gryffindor, but otherwise doesn’t say anything. Levi is not leaving until he’s had a word with Erwin.

It isn’t long until the two of them are alone in the room with the Head Boy. He and Erwin are arguing, seemingly unaware of Levi’s presence. Or, at least, the Head Boy is arguing and Erwin is just standing there silently. It’s a tactic that appears to be working. The Head Boy just gets angrier and angrier until Levi can eventually overhear him.

“And I could have you shut down any time I wanted. You know that the only reason you keep getting away with this is because we’re friends, Erwin. But Merlin’s Beard. You’re recruiting _kids_ now?” Here he gestures at Levi, who bristles but is otherwise ignored. “Look at him, waiting there for you like a faithful dog. Is that your new approach? Get them while they’re young so they won’t question you later?”

And that, _finally_ , gets a reaction from Erwin. His entire body stiffens, and he appears to grow taller; wider. His face, usually so impassive, hardens. His voice is a calm as ever, but it is laced with steel. Final. “That’s enough, Nile.” He says, and Nile shuts him mouth with an audible click. ”While I am of course grateful that you facilitate us flying under the radar, even though you felt you could no longer continue with us when you were named Prefect, I do not appreciate your insinuations. I had hoped you knew me better than that.”

Nile tries to glare at Erwin for a moment, but it wilts under his steady gaze. “Yes, well. So did I.” He mutters, before spinning and striding out of the room, He barely manages to deviate his path enough to get around Levi standing firm near the door. 

“Give Marie my best if you see her tonight.” Erwin calls after Nile as the door slams behind him. Levi doesn’t know Erwin well, but he thinks he hears a note of slyness there.

“I don’t like him.” Levi says, and Erwin looks at him like he hadn’t really registered he was there.

“Who, Nile?” He asks, and Levi has to restrain himself from rolling his eyes. “He’s not a bad guy. He just doesn’t want to lose what he has. He gave up a lot for it.”

“Whatever.” Levi says, and lets the room go silent as he tries to think of what he wants to say. “Why do you do this anyway? This club. There’s no one out there trying to hurt us anymore.”

Erwin watches him for a moment without saying a word, and Levi struggles to restrain himself from shifting out of awkwardness. “I don’t think you believe that, Levi.” He says eventually, and Levi shrugs. 

“You’re right.” He says. “But my problems aren’t magical, so none of his is going to help me much unless I’m willing to break some statutes of secrecy.”

Erwin doesn’t stop to think again. “This magical peace won’t last. I’m sure that you know as well as I do that there will always be someone who wants to hurt us.”

And Levi wonders what happened to Erwin, that he knows that too. 

\--------------------

The next day, Levi sits alone at the Hufflepuff table for breakfast. He’s not entirely sure what is expected of him after joining the duelling club, but he knows that he doesn’t much care what they want from him. He has his hand resting over the top of his tea cup, absorbing the warmth, and he is just about to raise it to take a sip when the chair next to him scrapes backwards and Mike seats himself next to him without a word. Levi hesitates just for a moment with surprise, and then drinks his tea without an acknowledgement. 

Levi both enjoys and hates the food at Hogwarts; enjoys that there _is_ food, that he can eat what he wants and as much as he wants without having to beg or scavenge or ration, and hates that it’s so wasteful, the meals disappearing from plates unfinished and replaced with more. Since his first week Levi has taken up the habit of pocketing anything he can that will last a few days and seeing it off to Furlan and Isabel and the other kids in the group care home. Mike does not appear to share his concerns, piling his plate up high and letting his scraps go the same way as the leftovers. Levi has never left anything uneaten in his life.

Slowly, the seats around the two of them start to fill up with faces Levi recognises from the night before. Most are older than him. None are younger. Hange is sitting opposite him and two seats across, chatting animatedly and enthusiastically at a Ravenclaw boy staring determinedly at his cereal who looks like he wants to be sitting next to anyone else. Mike has turned away from his meal to talk to his Gryffindor companion, leaving a spattering of crumbs next to his plate. Levi is glaring at them, willing Mike’s arm to move so he can sweep the mess up when the conversation around him is cut off abruptly. 

Erwin is immaculately put together, even at this hour, throwing into sharp relief the various states of disheveledness of Levi’s dining companions. Levi is pleased to note that he is the only one who does’t twitch to tighten a tie or pat hair down. His appearance, the way he presented himself to the world, was all he had for so long, and Levi has never relaxed his stance on personal grooming. 

As Erwin takes a seat, conversation starts again.

It’s almost like Levi has joined a cult. He’s hardly ever alone. Even when he’s rushing between classes, he’ll look up and see someone he recognises hurrying along beside him. He’s never had much house affiliation, so Levi has no problem with sitting with the group whichever table they may be at when they beckon him over at mealtimes. He had thought he would be bothered by the attention, but mostly everyone leaves him alone even when he’s with them and don’t try to engage him in conversation. 

And honestly, it’s kind of nice; having someone following him around. It reminds him of Isabel and Furlan, and the way they lived out of each other’s pockets for years. He hadn’t realised how much he’s missed the closeness, even if there isn’t the same intimacy. 

\--------------------

Levi is carried along with the tide to the next Quiddich match. He’s never kept a close watch on the sports calendar. A few times throughout the year he would watch people bundled up in their house colours walking out of the common room and chatting loudly about Quiddich, but he had never marked the date. And when he unsuspectedly leaves the common room to find Erwin, the crowd he steps out into almost drags him along to the pitch.

When he takes a place in the stands, Levi finally has a chance to stop and sit and look around for a familiar face. But the lack of Slytherin green and silver both on and off the pitch has him standing to leave only minutes before the start of the match. And then the seat next to him is filled, Erwin appearing beside him seemingly out of nowhere. 

Levi decides to stay, and realises very quickly he knows almost nothing about Quiddich.  
Watching Erwin and his team fly had made sense; everything had moved as it if were choreographed, every player had a role and knew it. The Slytherin team had flown like dancers or fighters, and the Gryffindors had fallen into orbit around them. Watching this match now is a mess, and Levi screws up his face trying to understand it.

He feels Erwin shift next to him, and then the whole left side of his body warms as Erwin leans over and down to whisper into his ear. “It’s disorienting, isn’t it?” And Levi nods carefully in response, not wanting to make Erwin move away. “If you keep an eye on Mike, it will become easier to follow. He plays a very structured game. Make him your centre, and everything moves around that.”

Erwin falls silent but doesn’t move back, and Levi is hesitant to take up his suggestion in case he dislodges him. He finds himself doing it anyway, watches Mike send bludgers screaming towards his opponents with near-pinpoint precision. But the rest of the game remains frantic and unskillful. He can’t help but remark on this out loud, and the corner of Erwin’s mouth ticks up in response.

“You’re right, of course.” He whispers back. “They’re undisciplined. The Ravenclaw captain is too young and untested to have the respect of her teammates, and the Hufflepuff captain gave up a long time ago. They both lack a solid strategy. What I would do is...”

And as Levi listens to Erwin lay out how he would reform a Quidditch team, he comes to the realisation that Erwin should be in charge of _everything_ \- it all just seems so _clean_ when he says it. It all makes sense.

\--------------------

Levi will never be a social butterfly. His first four years at Hogwarts he spent either in class or in the Great Hall or in the Hufflepuff common room, though he was never in want of something to do. When he had been supposed to start schooling his mother had been dying, and Levi had stayed to watch over her when she could no longer take care of herself. And then Kenny had taken him in and given him a home of a sorts on the streets, but not the opportunity for a formal education. Eventually the owners of the children’s home had made sure he was taught the basics of reading and writing and enrolled him in the nearest school, but the short amount of time he spent there was interrupted by attempts at fostering, and his learning suffered. At Hogwarts, Levi was expected to write essays and read tomes of information and he did, but it was difficult. It took him longer than the students he shared a dorm room with, and even if he wanted to get to know them he didn’t have the time. Besides, he already had all the friends he needed in Furlan and Isabella.

Erwin changed that. Mike and Nanaba - once they were finally introduced - and even Hange are all his friends, though he wouldn’t tell them that. But Erwin is the one that he starts venturing out of the common room for without an excuse to see. They don’t talk that often, but even so, Levi seeks him out; after class, in the library, at meal times. He’d be creeped out by himself a little if he was given to that. Or if it didn’t feel like that with Erwin, he finally has someone to _believe_ in and trust completely. It’s a trust that came to him frighteningly quickly, but Erwin just knows _something_ that Levi so desperately wants.

He usually finds him sitting alone in the library, writing. Erwin is always writing, when he’s not speaking or eating, and sometimes even then. Presumably he also sleeps, although Levi has been presented with no evidence to the fact. He supposes he could ask Nile, as presumably they’d share a dorm room, but he can imagine the sort of questions he’d get from that line of enquiry. 

Levi has no real idea of what Erwin writes about. He’d look, but he’d rather Erwin tell him himself. Instead he mostly just sits there in silence and does his own work. Really, the introduction of Erwin into his life doesn’t so much change anything about what Levi does so much as where he does it.

Erwin doesn’t seem at all bothered at all by Levi’s presence. Rather, he appears to appreciate it. Where people have always ignored Levi and written him off as a good-for-nothing who will go nowhere, Erwin asks for his opinions. And is always amused rather than shocked by his less savoury answers. Levi has never before met someone so willing to discuss bowel movements when he asks after them; who doesn’t blush and fluster and look away. He’s oddly charmed by it, which is embarrassing. 

But his embarrassment is mollified somewhat by the way Erwin looks up from his work in acknowledgement when Levi stumbles into the library hours after he normally would on Furlan’s birthday. He’d been using the floo network to speak to him and Isabella. Levi had never used floo powder before, and he had needed some time to convince himself to stick his head into the flames. His face still feels unnaturally warm, even though the temperature in the fireplace had been only slightly above room temperature.

“There you are.” Erwin says, and Levi’s face gets a little bit hotter. “I’d like your opinion on something.”

“Whatever.” Levi shrugs, and tamps down on the smile that threatens as he takes a seat.

“My father believed that magic and muggle society could not continue to exist as seperate forever.” Erwin starts. “Integration is a process that has been happening slowly for centuries, witches and wizards moving out of magic-only streets and enclaves, sending their children to muggle schools. But every time we get close, the Ministry gets afraid, invokes the Statute of Secrecy, and then sends out a team of Memory Modifiers.” Erwin pauses but Levi doesn’t dare interrupt and halt this insight into Erwin’s motivations. He wants to know everything about why he is the way he is, and maybe he can find something of the same. “My father through that we, the magical world, would need a push. And he wanted to be the one to give it. But he’s dead.” Erwin falls silent again and Levi lets him have the quiet out if respect. He understands having deceased parents. “I want to finish his work. I don’t want us to live behind some sort of magical barrier. I don’t want the wizarding world to hide in fear of what might happen if we strike out past the wall that separates us from the muggles. It’s why I write these letters. You must have wondered what they’re for. We don’t have the opportunity to vote like muggles. Change in the magical world comes from the top, or not at all. And these letters are the only way I can be heard. And they’re the only way that I can maybe, just _maybe_ change something. At least until I graduate, and I can join the Ministry myself.”

“I don’t see why you’d want my opinion.” Levi says, eventually. “You know I think your crusade is pointless.”

“That is precisely why your opinion is so important.” Erwin replies. “You think that with the Statute of Secrecy in place, learning magical defence is not going to help us outside of Hogwarts. Help me use that to convince the Minister that the system is only going to hurt us in the long run.” 

Levi only thinks on his answer for a moment. He doesn’t honestly need the time, but he also doesn’t want to seem too eager to be involved. “What do you need?” 

\--------------------

Erwin doesn’t get a lot of personal mail. Even less than Levi, which would be sad except that both of Erwin’s parents are magical, so almost everyone he knew growing up would be at Hogwarts anyway. A small screech owl delivers him a copy of the Daily Prophet every day, and he receives copies of various other newspapers and magazines throughout the week. 

The break in the routine is the bright red envelope the owl drops from its talons. Erwin stands and grabs it out of the air as it drops like a dead weight and walks swiftly out of the Great Hall without pausing. Levi glances along the table at the duelling club but most continue their conversations as if nothing had happened. Only Mike and Hange react, staring at each other in an apparent silent conversation. Levi doesn’t wait to see how it ends. Instead he gets to his feet and hurries out of the room. 

The Entrance Hall is empty, everyone either sleeping through breakfast or already eating. Levi doesn’t know where to start looking for Erwin and is about to give it up and just go back to the Hufflepuff common room to wait for his first class when there’s a screech from behind him and he looks around to see one of the suits of armour pointing to the door to the left of the Grand Staircase. Levi does’t know how to thank a suit of armour - if it can even hear words - so he settles with a nod of acknowledgement and heads towards the indicated room.

The door is not locked and Levi swings it open, only to be hit with a wave of noise, a piercing female voice as loud as if the speaker were shouting through a megaphone. “”You’re going to get them _killed_!” The voice shrieks. “You know where this road ends!” And there’s a whoosh as the envelope bursts into flames, the ashes falling slowly from where it was hovering at Erwin’s eye-level. Erwin stands, staring, for the briefest of moments, then sighs quietly and turns. His face is _sad_ , and although he covers it almost immediately with blankness, Levi sees the slump of his shoulders, the empty resignation in his eyes. 

“Who was that?” He demands.

“My mother.” Erwin replies, and says it with such a sense of finality that Levi doesn’t ask a followup question.

“Well she’s an idiot.” He says instead, and Erwin doesn’t reply to agree or correct him, but he does smile softly in gratitude, and that’s a win in Levi’s book.

“Let’s go back to the Great Hall.” Erwin says. “I’m hungry.” And the way their arms brush together as they walk side-by-side is Levi’s second win of the morning.

\--------------------

The next time a Howler flutters down towards Erwin, Levi whips out his wand and lights it on fire as it’s still falling. The _bang_ it makes as it explodes is momentarily deafening. Which is why Levi doesn’t realise he’s landed himself and Erwin in detention until the third time he’s told. 

\-------------------- 

Levi has always been given to rebellion, to sarcasm and to anger. But disregarding his first day, his time at Hogwarts has been remarkably punishment-free. It’s not that he’s not frustrated or annoyed, it’s that he’s never cared about anything enough to get in trouble for it. Until Erwin. And his cause.

He vaguely recognises the professor who sweeps into the room late drinking from a hip flask as the same one who presided over his first detention, and while he doesn’t appear to recognise Levi, he definitely knows Erwin. He doesn’t even bother greeting him. “I’m about sick of seeing your face, Smith.” He says, and Erwin actually chuckles quietly. And Levi can’t believe it. Erwin is actually _fond_ of this guy, this teacher who drinks while he’s working. “I’m definitely tired of thinking up punishments for you. It’s your last year, anyway. And clearly nothing sticks. What did you do this time?”

“Actually, professor. It wasn’t me.” Erwin replies, and he looks across at Levi with a soft smile and softer eyes. 

The professor seems to notice Levi for the first time. He looks down at the piece of parchment on his desk and then back up quickly. “Ackerman?” He says with a hint of amusement. “I remember you saying you weren’t a part of Smith’s ridiculousness.”

Levi shrugs, hiding his surprise that he remembers. “That was five years ago. Things change.”

The professor laughs. “What did _you_ do, then?”

“I made a howler explode in the Great Hall.”

“You’re really in deep, if they’re sending you howlers. What’s Smith got you doing?”

“The letter wasn’t addressed to me.” Levi admits. “It was for Erwin.”

The professor laughs again, and takes a large swig from his flask before speaking. “It always comes back to you, doesn’t it, Smith.”

And “yes.” Levi thinks. Yes it does.

\--------------------

After, they walk back down to the bowels of Hogwarts together. “I’ve been thinking about what you said.” Erwin starts, and Levi makes an enquiring grunt. “About magic not always being helpful to fight.”

“Yeah, well. It’s not only witches and wizards who want to hurt people.”

“You’re right.” Erwin agrees. “I’ve been thinking about what to do about that. And I’d like you to teach us all hand-to-hand combat.”

Levi stops abruptly and Erwin follows suit almost immediately. “I don’t know how to _teach_.” Levi hisses. “What happens when they’re all stupid and can’t do it? I don’t have the patience for that.”

Erwin smiles down at him. “You are kinder than you think you are. You look after people. And they admire you.”

Levi curses his pale skin that can’t hide a blush. “They shouldn’t.”

“You’re free to think whatever you want, of course.” Erwin says. “But Hange still likes to tell people about you breaking the Ravenclaw prefect’s nose because he insulted them. It’s what gave me the idea to ask you to train everyone, actually.”

“I’ve never done anything like teaching before.”

“You’re underestimating the impact you have on people. They emulate you without your input.” Erwin pauses and puts his hand on Levi’s shoulder. It weighs heavy, betraying the strength that Erwin keeps in check. And even through Levi’s robe, it burns hot. “Levi. You’ll be brilliant. I trust you.”

And Erwin squeezes his shoulder once before turning and continuing down the corridor. Levi allows a second, _just a second_ , to stare after him - in awe, in shock, in something else, he doesn’t know - before scrambling after him.

\--------------------

By now, Levi is used to having people corner him between classes and around meal times. He’s long since become accustomed to the people who want to talk to him. But he’s never met the Head Girl before. He’s seen her around, of course. Her Gryffindor robes occasionally make her unmissable amongst the sea of green and silver when she sits at the Slytherin table. But they’ve never been introduced, even though he is vaguely aware that she has some association with Erwin.

He hadn’t expected someone who was dating Nile to be so _electric_. It’s somewhat unfair, he knows, to judge her on her taste in men, but Nile has done nothing to endear himself to Levi. Marie, however, is instantly charming. She sits down next to Levi while he’s trying to finish an essay in the library and introduces herself, and the first thing he notices is that she has Erwin’s eyes; eyes that make you think that everything you say to her is important, like she is really listening to you and taking your ideas on board.

She also doesn’t beat around the bush. “How is Erwin? I worry.”

“What?”

“Erwin. How is he? I know how he can be, and I worry about him.”

Levi is slightly shocked, because most people who know Erwin don’t talk about him like he’s someone to be _worried_ about; worry about what he might do, maybe, but they tend to see him as someone above average human concerns. “Why don’t you ask him?”

Marie laughs. “I can’t. You know Erwin. You spend more time with him than anyone else. That’s why I came to you instead of Mike or Hange. Erwin’s so evasive. He’d never give me a straight answer. But I think you will.”

Levi mulls it over for a moment. “Frustrating.” He says, and Marie smiles wryly. “Inspiring. Dedicated, almost to the point of obsessiveness.”

“Come on, Levi.” Marie interrupts. “Anyone could have told me that.”

“He’s getting further and further up his own arse.” Levi snaps. “He thinks that what we’re doing here is going to change the world for people, and he’s going to lose himself in it if he’s not careful.” And Levi falls abruptly silent, annoyed at his own outburst.

Marie only nods. “That sounds like Erwin. The worst part is that we all believe him. It’s a good thing that you’re around to keep him honest.”

Levi grimaces, because he wishes she was right. He wishes he weren’t as susceptible to Erwin’s charms and convictions as everyone else. But where he’ll argue when no one else will, he’s still more likely to trust that Erwin knows what he’s doing than to not.

Marie smiles sadly. “You know, Erwin and I almost dated for a while there.” She starts, and it’s matter-of-fact, but there’s the smallest hint of wistfulness. “In the end he stopped it before it ever actually went anywhere. He told me he couldn’t promise me everything I wanted. Even as a lie. Broke my heart. But Nile can, and I’m happy. And every day I’m with him, I’m reminded that everything worked out for the best.”

“Why would I care?”

“Because I know what it’s like, getting caught up in Erwin’s orbit. And I recognise that look on your face.” She sighs, and Levi genuinely believes that she _feels_ for him. “Don’t fall in love with the idea of Erwin Smith. I know it’s very easy to. But you have to make sure that you are seeing the _man_.”

\--------------------

Levi spends most of his time outside of classes with Erwin, and yet he can’t say that he’s ever seen him pick up a textbook. They’re certainly in the library a lot, but Erwin is almost exclusively drawn to books about spells and ideas outside the curriculum. Or history. Either way, nothing school related. And even so, he enters and exits every one of his NEWTs looking calm and collected. 

Levi does not share his confidence. His practical magic has always been exceptional, and as a result his professors have never worried overmuch about his lack of theoretical knowledge. It’s all coming back to bite him now, with his OWLs looming on the horizon. Not that Levi cares, because he’s not planning on returning to Hogwarts next year, anyway. Erwin is going to take the world to task, and Levi wants to be there by his side when he does.

Erwin is not impressed when he offers to help him study and Levi tells him as much. His eyebrows draw together in a frown and Levi crosses him arms to prepare for a fight when Erwin sighs and closes his eyes for a moment, face relaxing. “Levi.” He says. “While I am heartened by your belief, I don’t think that’s a good idea.”

Levi scowls. “What the hell are you on about? You know that the only things I’ve learnt here are because of you. Everyone else is an idiot.”

Erwin smiles down at him indulgently, and no one has thought Levi worthy of _indulging_ before. “Be that as it may, you still have an important role here. I’m leaving Hange in charge next year, and you know how they can get. Someone needs to be here to stop them from testing out their own spells on the others. Someone needs to stop everyone from forgetting what we’re trying to do here. And I can’t think of anyone better for the job than you.”

It’s ridiculous, how much Erwin trusting him with any sort of responsibility still affects him so much. He thought he’d be over it by now. But the truth is that even though he knows that Erwin makes some seriously questionable decisions - like leaving Hange in charge of _children_ \- Levi still trusts his judgement above anyone else’s. And he’s just as floored now when Erwin shows faith in him as he had been as an eleven year old kid; when Erwin had been the first person to tell him he wasn’t unwanted, wasn’t a reject.

He slides his transfiguration textbook across the table and Erwin catches it. “Whatever you say, Erwin.”

\--------------------

Mike pulls him up at the entrance to King’s Cross while he’s waiting around for Furlan and Isabel to arrive. 

Erwin had left the station in a rush to meet with a building superintendent. Hange’s family had been at the platform to meet them and Mike had disappeared. And Levi doesn’t like any of the other people he knows enough to want to spend time making casual conversation with them. 

And then Mike reappears beside him, moving far too silently for someone so large. “Did you ever figure out why you were sorted into Hufflepuff?” He asks, no preamble, and Levi almost hits him in surprise. But he’s never been able to get one up on Mike, and he doesn’t see any reason why he would start now. 

“Erwin told you about that?” He says instead, and Mike nods.

“He was worried about you, first day you met. Erwin’s never really been _nice_ , but he does care about people. A lot like you, actually. It’s no wonder the two of you get along so well.”

Levi grunts, but doesn’t say anything, content to let an awkward silence fall rather than answer Mike’s question. Mike doesn’t seem so willing to let it go. “It’s because you’re loyal.” He says, after a beat. “And I want to thank you.”

And he leaves without another word. Levi can’t stop the small smile that twitches at his lips as he stares down the street, waiting. 

\--------------------

Levi’s sixth year is different from all those that have come before. For one, he’s actually looking forward to returning to Hogwarts and seeing his friends again. Well, friend. Erwin and Mike have both graduated, but Hange still has a year left, and he has missed them. Going to school had always been the time he left his friends behind, but now he has some to go to. 

For another, he has the responsibility that Erwin left him with - to help continue the work Erwin had started. It gives him a purpose, and Levi dedicates himself to it the first day. He breaks into the custodian’s office between his last class and dinner, Hange distracting the man while Levi rifles through the records of the new third years, looking for a punishment history that would indicate someone who might express sympathy for their cause, or at the very least wouldn’t turn them in if asked if they wanted to join. According to Hange, this wasn’t a method of recruitment that Erwin and Mike had ever used, but they approved. Erwin had always relied on connections with other students, but Levi doesn’t trust his own ability to be charming, and he trust’s Hange’s even less. Hange had suggested that perhaps it would be best if Nanaba went about recruitment, rather than Levi’s approach, but she had insisted she wanted nothing to do with running the club and was far more comfortable a support role. So breaking and entering it is.

Levi approaches each of his chosen students the next morning. Petra and Gunther he catches as they’re walking into the Great Hall for breakfast. The red of their Gryffendore robes brings out the softer ginger highlights in Petra’s hair, and for a moment Levi is reminded so forcefully of Isabella that he stops in his tracks and almost turns to walk the other way and not get her involved in something where she could get hurt. But he knows that Isabella would be furious at that, and he pushes through. 

Hange points out Eld sitting alone at eating cereal. They know everyone in Ravenclaw by sight, but Levi had insisted on undertaking recruitment himself. He doesn’t want to let Erwin down with bad choices. Olou is the last: a fellow Hufflepuff, Levi waits for him to stumble down the stairs after breakfast has finished. The armchairs in the common room are exceedingly comfortable, so Levi doesn't mind waiting. While he does, he pulls a piece of parchment and a quill out of his book bag and writes a short letter to Erwin about the new recruits. He’s sure Hange has done the same, but he would rather Erwin heard about it from him.

Olou stumbles down the stairs after five minutes, almost trips down the last one, and comes to a yawning stop at the bottom. Levi leavers himself out of the chair and intercepts. When he opens his eyes again, Olou sees Levi in front of him and freezes, mouth still open just a crack after the yawn. They’ve never spoken before, but Olou has clearly heard of him or seen him, because Levi recognises the look in his wide open eyes: admiration. He only hopes he doesn’t look so stupid when he’s with Erwin, and he almost resolves not to send his recently-penned letter.

He gives it to an owl, anyway. And much to his surprise, Erwin writes back. 

They trade letters back and forth for the next few months. Levi finds that it’s easier to talk to him like this. He had always thought it _was_ easy, that he was one of the few who could talk frankly with Erwin, but he hadn’t realised how much he had been holding back. With Erwin in front of you, it was all too easy to let him control the conversation, for his ideas to steamroll over your own. But in stilted letter format, Levi can ask questions that had never occurred fully-formed to him before.

Erwin has always struck him as coming from an if not rich, then at least affluent family. And yet Levi know the address that the owl delivers his letters to, and it is a part of London not far from where Levi lived with his mother, and later with Kenny. He’d assume that it was some silly rich kid’s rebellion, wanting to live on their own and under their own power now that they did not have to rely on their parents, but Levi knows that Erwin is not the type to turn down any help offered to him. His father is dead, but his mother presumably is not. And so Levi asks.

“My mother is glad to be rid of me.” Is all the reply he gets in return, but without Erwin’s physical presence, Levi doesn’t hesitate to push onwards into asking why. 

“She blames me for my father’s death.” Erwin writes. “Do not judge her too harshly. She’s right. She allowed me to live in her home while attending Hogwarts to avoid a scandal. Our reputation and safety was turbulent enough with the circumstances of his death. She always made sure she was away during the holidays. But now that I have graduated, we don’t need to keep up appearances.”

And the truth is that while Levi could pry, he is not given to needless cruelty. Instead, he does his own research, reading through old copies of the Daily Prophet to find mention of Erwin’s father. Eventually he does, in the obituaries, and more prominently in the papers from the months before. A leading voice in magical law, he had led a vocal fraction working towards the integration of magical and muggle society, and the abolishment the Statute of Secrecy. There had been a hearing planned before the Wizengamot, but Erwin’s father had died before it could go to trial. Officially his death had been deemed an unfortunate accident, but looking through other records and papers written at the time, there was a clearly traceable conspiracy: that he had been murdered by magical supremacists. 

It’s all too easy for Levi to imagine; Erwin as a child, around the same age as Levi had been when his mother died, proud of his father’s job and cause. Bragging to other adults that he would unite magic and muggle, that he would win. And the wrong people overhearing him, their fury finally driving them to murder in the face of a child’s innocent faith. 

Levi understands all the better why Erwin is so driven.

\--------------------

The rumours start about six months in to the school year. At first, it seems like paranoia - whispers of small groups of magical people being infected with a disease that causes them to mutate and violently lash out. Levi is convinced it’s a hoax, someone watching too many zombie movies and making a bad joke. The stories that he hears of entire towns disappearing - buildings lit alight or crumbled into dust, bodies in the streets, a mysterious haze left behind, just the faintest hint of a pale red - can not be true. The descriptions of the attackers are even less believable: people changed by a magic burrowed under their skin, stretching limbs and appendages, misshapen and violent. 

But it soon stops being just whisper and rumour. It’s students waiting in fear at breakfast for the letter that will tell them their family and friends are dead, new hysterics filling the Great Hall almost every day, howls of grief and rage echoing off the vaulted ceiling, even as it shows the sweet, fledging sunlight of a new day dawning. It’s students being banned from leaving Hogwarts, the castle’s defences fortified so nothing can get through the gates, outdoor classes strictly controlled. It’s the Daily Prophet becoming little more than obituaries and reports of the latest outbreaks and hotspots. And then, eventually, becoming phased out completely as cities are abandoned. The only news to replace it are crude pamphlets sent out at random intervals that tell readers how to identify an infected person, and the quickest and easiest way to kill them. 

Levi knows it is all true, but he doesn’t believe any of it _for sure_ until Erwin confirms it. 

Erwin has holed up in the apartment building he had been renting at. Most of the other inhabitants had fled back to their families and friends when the attacks had started, but Erwin had nowhere to go to even if he left. So he stayed, and he gathered the other residents who remained and anyone - magical or muggle - that he sees on the streets while out collecting supplies, and they fortified the building. Mike had arrived three days after the rumours of attacks were confirmed, bringing weapons and news of Nile and Marie making a home with another group outside of London. Levi knows that Erwin keeps up contact with them as well, because his letters contain regular reports of what is happening in other parts of the country. 

The news is invariably grim. Mike barely made it out of Pitlochry alive, navigating through the ruined city and avoiding the dead by the stench of decay. Nile and Marie are forced to move when an infected is spotted near their settlement during a late night watch, and the guard decides to burn the whole building down, rather than risk the being discovered. Not everyone managed to wake in time to make it out alive, and the creatures had been drawn to the flames like moths. And all the while, the infected change; they grow bigger and stronger and dumber, pure hate and instinct made grotesque flesh. 

Erwin sends him a photo once, along with a letter. He tells him about the small community garden on top of the building they’ve relocated to, and how he’s not sure how to break it to everyone that they only have enough food to last a month. Neither he nor Mike were ever particularly gifted in the kind of magic that protects and heals, but someone has to step up and do something. And with the letter, Erwin has attached a picture of one of the infected; long, elongated limbs and a body blown up twice the size it should have been, the skin stretched so tight that the face is barely more than a featureless plain with cold, dead eyes and a red, gaping maw. It’s running towards the photographer, its limbs flailing wildly out of its control, lips pulled back into mockery of a grin exposing huge stained teeth, and there is nothing in its gaze but a mindless hunger. 

Levi burns it the photo.

He is a proud man, but he isn’t above begging Erwin to go out and find Furlan and Isabel, and bring them to safety with him. 

Erwin promises to do what he can. 

With any luck, it will all blow over soon.

\--------------------

It gets worse. 

Erwin, Mike and their group are forced to leave the apartment block. Erwin tells him that they kill an infected on their way to a new hideout. Magic appears to do nothing to them. Muggle weapons don’t seem to be lethal, but a gun will slow one down and does seem to hurt, and with three they are able to herd the creature under a bridge, which Erwin collapses on its head with a spell. He says that the infected doesn’t even scream, doesn’t make a sound when its body is crushed under metal and concrete, but its hands don’t stop reaching for him until it is dead.

The group keeps on the move after that, a stable source of resources too hard to find. It delays Erwin’s ability to write. And every time, Levi is sure that the worst has happened and he will never know for sure; Erwin’s life, and Levi’s place in it, not even a footnote in history. Just another life lost. Perhaps Marie would write to tell him if she heard, but even if she did, she wouldn’t know of the others that Levi has entrusted Erwin with.

So instead he tells himself not to worry. That it’s Erwin, and Erwin aways has a plan. That he and Isabel and Furlan are safe. 

Erwin’s letters always come eventually.

By the end of the school year, the staff agree to let students leave. Most stay. Hogwarts is a safe place with a wealth of resources, and many have lost their families in the attacks. They have nowhere else to go. Those who leave do so to go to their loved ones. Levi contacts Erwin, and his reply arrives a week later.

\--------------------

The lake has always been eerie, particularly at dawn; with the mists rising and the distorted shadows from the trees on the water looking like creatures in the depths. It’s frightful, now, with the knowledge of what could be lurking in the surrounding forest. The gentle lap of the waves could be enough to cover a vital sound that would alert to an approach. Even Hange recognises the horror of the place, and they haven’t said a word. Levi is on high alert as he waits, standing back-to-back in a circle with Hange, Eld, Petra, Gunther, Oluo and Nanaba. While much of the dulling club either graduated with Erwin or decided to stay behind at Hogwarts, the six of them decided to leave with Levi. Petra’s family had fled the country at the outbreak, but Eld, Gunther and Oluo’s were all dead. 

Like Levi, for Hange and Nanaba, going to join with Erwin’s group was the first choice, no matter their situation.

There’s a sharp, sudden _crack_ not far from where they’re standing and they all spin to face the sound, wands pointed at the space Mike apparates into. There’s a beat as they all size each other up, and then Nanaba launches herself at Mike and they hug tightly, Mike’s eyes squeezed shut and Nanaba’s face buried in his chest. Levi looks away quickly to at least give them the illusion of privacy, and only turns back from the still-quiet forest when Petra nudges him and he turns around to see Mike gesturing them towards him. He keeps Nanaba under one arm and with the other, pulls a single ratty glove out of his pocket. 

Levi has only ever read about portkeys before, so he has no way of anticipating the _tug_ that pulls him along for a brief moment into nothingness, and then slams him down hard on the ground. He manages to keep his feet and his stomach. Only Mike and Hange are as lucky; the others end up on the ground, and in Oluo’s case violently ill. Levi hears a few snickers, and looks up to see that they have landed in the middle of a makeshift camp, four tents facing out at compass points, a fifth in the middle that they have been dropped next to. He looks around quickly, seeking out particular faces, but while he recognises a number of people, he can’t see the ones he really cares about.

Flashing lights in his peripheral vision draw his gaze to lines of witches and wizards shooting spells at each other in an obvious imitation of Erwin’s dulling club at Hogwarts. There’s three, possibly four off to the side slowly waving their wands over themselves and making various parts of their bodies fade from view or blend into the background. If he wasn’t paying attention, Levi would say they could almost become invisible. There’s a small, tight group in the middle of camp talking in hushed voices. From their lack of wands and the slight bulges of concealed weaponry, Levi guesses that they’re muggles.

Because of course Erwin would not be content with hiding from whatever is going on. Levi should have known he would be training and leading people to fight. And he doesn’t know how he feels about that - angry and worried and resigned and ridiculously, _absurdly_ proud. Because of course Erwin would fight back. Of course he would want to save everyone. 

There’s a zipping noise from the tent to Levi’s left, and the entire camp pauses to look as Erwin’s large form ducks out of the opening and unfolds to his full height. He’s filled out since Levi last saw him. Erwin was always a large man, tall and broad, but even so, only a student who’s form was mostly hidden behind school robes, and who’s only real athletic pursuit was Quiddich. Living without a permanent food source for months has robbed him of any baby-fat he had left, and a routine that involves regularly assembling and dismantling a camp, and apparently _fighting_ , has left him with muscles that Levi never noticed last year, even with how close they were. For a moment he can only see the back of him, the way the arms of his shirt stretch, the strain of it across his shoulders, and he’s suddenly hit with a _want_ that had always been there just lurking below the surface, but had come a distant second to admiration. 

And then he turns and their eyes lock, just for a moment, but Levi can see his own relief at their safe reunion reflected back at him in Erwin’s eyes and he thinks “to hell with it.” People have been warning him off Erwin since they got brought back together last year, but they don’t know him like he does. They don’t know the soft way that Erwin smiles down at Levi when they’re alone, and he’s not putting on a face for anyone. 

But it’s only for a moment, and Erwin shifts his gaze to take in the rest of the recently arrived group. “Mike.” Erwin starts, and Levi doesn’t shiver when he hears his voice, but it’s a close call. “Can you give the tour? I need to speak to Levi.” Mike’s nod in reply is accompanied by an amused look, but Levi doesn’t have the time to think about it as he ducks into the tent after Erwin. 

Inside is practical, but not empty. There’s a couch and some armchairs off to one side surrounding two radios on a table; one playing muggle news and the other tuned to a magical station. On the other side is a small kitchen that Levi feels the immediate pull to scrub clean. He’d never forgive himself if Erwin fell ill from some kind of contamination. Across from the entrance are four rooms, two with the entrances closed off by curtains and two open, the hint of the end of a bed just in view.

“Mike and I have two of the bedrooms.” Erwin says, seeing where Levi is looking. “Hange will get the third.” He pauses, and for the first time since Levi met him, sounds a little hesitant. “The fourth is for you. If you want it.”

Levi doesn’t have to hear the rest of the question to know what Erwin is asking. “You want me to take responsibility for all the people who are going to die under your watch, because you’re too stupid to just ride this out? I’m not like you. I can’t compartmentalise away people’s lives. I can’t just turn it off.”

Erwin looks confused, but not offended by Levi’s accusations. “Of course not.” He says, slowly. “Levi. Whatever happens to these people is my responsibility. And if they die, I will bear that burden, because it is nothing I won’t deserve. But I want– No. I _need_ you to help me win.”

And Levi lurches forward, grabs Erwin tightly by the upper arms and _yanks_ , himself up and Erwin down and he kisses him, hard and messy and a little angry, a little in love. Kisses him, for all the belief that Erwin has in him.

\--------------------

Erwin gives him a private tour of the camp. Levi doesn’t like PDA, and whether Erwin is a fan or not isn’t up for discussion. But Erwin doesn’t reach for him after they leave the tent, so so far it is a non-issue. Even so, Levi doesn’t want to leave Erwin’s side, and a camp tour is both necessary and a convenient excuse. 

Three of the other tents are also accommodation, one male, one female and the other mixed. All three have more space than the tent Erwin and Mike currently share, but also far more people. Almost every inch of them that isn’t the kitchen is covered in mattresses. Erwin explains that enchanted tents are difficult to come by, so everyone is making do with what they have. The fifth tent is different from the rest. When Levi steps inside he is greeted by a large table, a map in the middle and a radio setup the same as the one in Erwin’s tent. 

Erwin leads him over. “The blue dots are occupied residences.” He points to one on the coast. “This is where Nile and Marie are. No one is allowed to leave the country in case they spread the virus, but we don’t expect the ban to last forever, so they are keeping close to the port. They had planned to stay and join us, but Marie is pregnant.” Levi doesn’t quite swallow his shock, and Erwin huffs a short laugh. “She’s always wanted a family.” He says, a little wistfully. “But it was a surprise. They hadn’t planned on it so quickly, especially given the current circumstances.”

“And the green?” Levi asks, not wanting to dwell.

“The green shows known large gatherings of the Titans.” Erwin says and points at the map again, this time at a bright red cross. “These mark safe apparition spots into infected areas.”

And Levi _knows_ , he’s known it from the beginning, he’s just been denying it, pushing it away, but he _knows_ that no one here is armed for self-defence. That they’re not just fighting to stay alive. That they’re actively going out and _looking_ for conflict. He tears his gaze away from the map to take a deep breath and notices the chests lining the walls of the tent. He marches over to the closest and flings it open. Like everything else in the camp, it’s inside dimensions far exceed its outsides, but even so it is stuffed full of small, dark balls, as black as night and swirling slowly like mist. Peruvian Darkness Powder. The next reveals a stash of fireworks, mostly small cherry bombs and fun snaps, but a few more elaborate casings that suggest magical make. The third contains rows of guns. Levi is about to flip open another when there is a commotion outside of the tent and the flaps fly open, two figures practically falling through.

Furlan is much the same as Levi remembers him from almost a year ago; tall and sandy-haired. He’s filled out a little, not quite so lanky, but his face is still so young behind its seriousness. Levi’s distracted quickly by a loud “big bro”, and Isabel comes streaking towards him, red hair shorter than he remembers it, but her smile just as bright. When she catches him in a hug, Levi realises she’s much taller than he remembers too, and he’s not usually a hugger, but he’s _so glad_ to see them, see that they’re _alive_ , that he lets it go just this once and hugs her back. And that’s when he feels the weapon strapped to her hip.

Levi pushes her away as gently as he can in his rage and he turns towards Erwin watching the scene in silence. And Levi is _furious_ , he’s never been so angry, like a red hot poker trying to force it’s way up his throat and out his mouth, like a scream that could never be enough, as he stalks towards Erwin, fist raised even though he’s not sure what he wants to do with it.

“I trusted you.” He hisses, when he gets within striking range and Erwin doesn’t flinch or back away or move at all, just looks down at Levi impassively, and he feels his rage building. “I trusted you to keep them _safe_.” Erwin makes no move to defend himself and Levi can’t take it anymore, and he finally figures out what to do with his hand when he punches Erwin hard in the face, feels his knuckles crunch together and the pain is worth it for the way Erwin’s nose is obviously broken and his lip splits. And Levi storms out of the tent without stopping to see how Erwin reacts.

\--------------------

Levi has never been good at healing spells, but he manages to reduce the swelling on his knuckles. He’s taken up the room that Erwin offered him, because there’s no way in hell he’s leaving, no way he’s letting Erwin out of his _sight_ to get everyone killed. He’s going to hound him like the dog Nile once accused him of being, and keep him accountable for everyone.

There are no doors in a tent, so there’s little warning but a bit of shuffling before the curtains are yanked roughly open and Isabel and Furlan march into the room. “What the hell was that about?” Isabel demands, in the high pitched tone of the truly angry and Levi open his mouth to reply but Furlan interrupts.

“Erwin saved our lives.” He says, and Furlan never gets riled up, is never anything other than measured and calm, but there is an undercurrent of confusion and annoyance in his voice. “We were trapped in the children’s home for weeks when everything started. We saw people being attacked through the windows, so we hid. But we ran out of food eventually, and we had to risk it. We made it to Tesco, but the Titans, they saw us, and there wasn’t anything we could do. We found some cricket bats and we watched them trying to break through the glass and we waited to die. But then Erwin appeared and he took us back to his apartment. We wouldn’t be alive if it wasn’t for him.”

And sure, Levi appreciates that. He isn’t ungrateful. But he _begged_ Erwin to keep Isabel and Furlan _safe_ , he trusted that he would keep doing so, not put them in any danger. “And now he’s using you to fight his battles.”

Furlan rolls his eyes, and he looks so _young_. “This is everyone’s fight.”

“You’re just _kids_.”

“No we’re not!” Isabel replies, indignant.

“Isabel,” Levi snaps. “You’re only twelve. And–“

“And I’ve been out here, dealing with this crap for a lot longer than you have.” She interrupts, and she’s _right_ , Levi knows she’s right, and it’s like a bucket of ice over all his arguments. Isabel always was best at getting him to face up to things. “We know what’s going on better than you do.”

Furlan takes the lead again. “Levi. Erwin didn’t make us do this. He didn’t even ask. Everyone else who wouldn't fight, he sent away to one of the the other groups. But he let us stay. For _you_. And we volunteered. We wanted to fight. Because we knew that it’s what you would do.”

And Levi sighs, because he can’t deny it. He already did the exact same thing, asking to come here. Even before that; pledging himself to Erwin without even being asked. Because from the moment see saw him on the Quiddich pitch, he knew that Erwin was someone that he could follow. Someone whose decisions he could believe in. He can’t blame Isabel and Furlan for falling for it, too. And as much as the bitter and angry and mistrustful part of him would like to, he can’t blame Erwin for being who is is, either; for accepting Isabel and Furlan, just like he accepted Levi. This is the life they have been dealt, and Erwin is just doing the best he can to lead them all through it, to get as many people out the other side that he can. No willing bodies turned away. 

“I’ll think about it.” Is all he says, however, and Isabel and Furlan both nod their acknowledgement. Silence falls for a beat, and then Levi continues. “Why do you call them Titans, anyway? Erwin does the same.” 

Isabel brightens. “It was my idea.” She says. “We were learning about Greece at school when everything started going wrong, and there was a story where the Titans ate the baby Dioneysis and so Zeus killed them and their blood made people.”

“They’re people with all the people parts taken out. Like the Titans.” Furlan says almost distractedly.

“Erwin said it was smart.” Isabel says, and she puffs up her chest as best as she can, and _oh_ , Levi understands that feeling. Erwin is so easy to follow, even into hell.

\--------------------

Levi has never been a deep sleeper. Well, perhaps he was when his mother was still alive, he doesn’t remember, but ever since Kenny took him in, he wakes at the slightest noise. It wasn’t safe, on the streets, to not be aware. In the short, muddled gap between sleeping and waking, Levi spares a fleeting thought for Kenny, and wonders if he’s even still alive. Probably. Kenny was like a cockroach.

It’s the sounds of the forest that wakes him, used to sleeping behind the thick castle walls of Hogwarts as he is. He can hear the soft rustling of leaves though the tent, but none of the guards raise an alarm, so he rolls over and closes his eyes and tries to fall asleep again. When five minutes pass and he’s still awake, Levi sighs and gets out of bed, hoping a quick walk around camp will clear his head. 

Candlelight peeks out from under the curtain that blocks out Hange’s room, flickering in what must be the air moved from the flipping of book pages, as there is no breeze inside the tent. There’s two voices talking in whispers drifting out of Mike’s room, and even in her hushed, indistinct tones, Nanaba sounds happier than Levi has heard her all year. Erwin’s room is silent and dark, and Levi finds his feet heading towards it without conscious thought. 

He pushes open the curtain and speaks in a low voice, not wanting to alert anyone but Erwin to his presence. “You awake?”

There’s a rustle of bedsheets, and Erwin’s voice drifts out of the darkness. “Come in, Levi.”

And Levi knows that he could turn around and leave, could hold on to all his anger and mistrust and just walk away. But it’s _exhausting_ and he _wants_ this, more than anything. Wants to believe in something, _someone_ , and he wants it to be Erwin. Because it can only be Erwin. And Levi closes the curtain behind him and walks into the room.

It’s not as dark inside as he had thought, and his eyes adjust quickly so he can make out the layout of the room. Levi isn’t sure exactly what Erwin meant when he invited him in, but he’s not asking to find out. He’s taking what he wants, making it happen, and he climbs in to Erwin’ bed and under the covers. He can make out Erwin’s face staring back at him, and he reaches out, touching between his nose and still-split lip. Erwin doesn’t flinch away, but Levi fancies that even in the gloom he can see his face go a little paler. Healed; just enough to stop the bleeding and allow for clear speech, but not enough to stop the pain. Because of course. Erwin would never spare himself pain he thought he deserved. 

Levi trails his fingers up and along Erwin’s cheekbone, and down his face to rest his hand on his neck fingers tucked up behind his ear. It’s the closest to vulnerable he’s ever seen Erwin. All he’d have to do is shift his hand a little and press down hard and it would be all over. And Erwin lets him, because he _trusts_ him. 

Erwin breaks the silence. “I thought you knew what I was planning.”

Levi can feel Erwin’s pulse through his hand. “I think I did.” He replies. “I just didn’t _want_ to think that you were stupid enough to do something that will get you killed when I wasn’t there to protect you.”

Erwin smiles because he _gets_ him. And then his expression smooths out again. “We will talk about this properly in the morning.” He says. “But you should know; I’m not sorry.”

“I know.” Levi replies. And he does. He wouldn’t expect anything but surety from Erwin. Erwin always has a plan, always knows what he’s doing. Silence falls between them again, and Levi counts Erwin’s steady heartbeat. Safe. 

“Marie warned me about you.” Levi says, after he reaches fifty. Erwin looks as focused on him as he has since he entered. Never wavering. “She told me that it’s easy to fall in love with the idea of you, and forget about who the man behind it is.”

“What do you think?”

“I think she’s right.” Levi says, and he leaves it hanging there in the air between them, watches closely to see Erwin’s reaction. Erwin’s face is as blank as ever, but Levi knows him, too. He can see how forced Erwin’s impassiveness is. It’s all the confirmation he needs to push on. “But I also think that the man is worthy of love, too.”

And Erwin finally, _finally_ reaches back, relaxes all of his muscles that have been as tense as violin strings and reaches out across the bed, wraps an arm around Levi’s waist and pulls him in, close and tight. Levi shifts his arm into a more comfortable position, but now he can hear Erwin’s heartbeat from where his head rests against Erwin’s chest, feel the rumble of his voice as he says “Go to sleep, Levi.” And just as he’s starting to drift off, he can feel the kiss Erwin presses to the top of his head.

**Author's Note:**

> (Mike is a werewolf shh)


End file.
